Guidance work in the schools of Taraz

The Far East Department together with the Japan Foundation conducts career guidance work in Kazakhstani schools for the third year. Fruitfulness of this work can be observed by annually increasing number of students of the department of Japanese studies. In the 2018-2019 academic year, the number of first-year students reached 24. Many students came from different regions of Kazakhstan.
From September 26 to September 28, within the framework of the Japan Foundation grant, of the "Sakura Network" program, in order to help students choose a future profession, the Far East Department conducted career guidance work in the schools of Taraz.
Specialist of the International Japan Foundation, PhD Onishi Yumi and assistant of the Far East Department, Baiseitova D.S. took part in the work.
Teachers visited 3 secondary schools in the city of Taraz. Within the career guidance work, more than 200 students received background information on Japan and Japanese language. The teachers introduced students to Japanese culture and traditional cuisine. High school students showed great interest in the Land of the Rising Sun, actively participated in the quiz about Japan. Thanks to the master class on folding Origami-Crane, in which the students showed special activity, they were able to get acquainted with the Japanese art of folding paper figures, which further strengthened their interest in the country. Also, the students got acquainted with two videos about the Far East department of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, the faculty teachers and students` life. Students were especially interested in information about grants and scholarships for study at universities in Japan - partners of the KazNU. al-Farabi: Waseda University, Tsukuba University, Hokkaido University, Saitama University, Tokyo University of Foreign Languages. At the end of the event, all those interested in learning Japanese were given booklets about the Far East Department.
In general, it can be said that guidance work was successful, as evidenced by the active participation of students and their interest in the Japanese language and Japan.